Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European merchants, particularly the British, traded extensively through Guangzhou, and it was the opium trade throught Guangzhou that triggered the Opium Wars.

In the 19th century, Guangdong was the major port of exit for laborers in southeast Asia and the Western United States. Until the late 20th century, residents in Chinatowns tended to be overwhelmingly from Guangdong.

During 1850s, first revolt of Taiping Rebellion took place in Guangdong. Because of contact with the West, Guangdong was a center of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist activity. The generally acknowledged founder of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen was from Guangdong.

The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was re-named Guangnan East Region (廣南東路 guang3 nan2 dong1 lu4) in 971 during the Song Dynasty. "Guangnan East" is the source of "Guangdong". "Guang" means "Expanse".

Guangdong faces the South China Sea to the south. Leizhou Peninsula[?] is on the southwestern end of the province. There are a few inactive volcanoes on Leizhou Peninsula. The Pearl River[?] Delta is the convergent point of three upstream rivers: East River, North River, and West River. The river delta is filled with hundreds of small islands. The province is geographically separated from the north by a few mountain ranges collectively called the Southern Mountain Range (南岭). The highest point in the province is about 1600 meters above sea level.

After the communist takeover until the start of the Deng Xiaoping reforms in 1978, Guangdong was an economic backwater. Economic development policies encouraged industrial development in the interior provinces which were weakly linked to Guangdong via transportation links. The government policy of economic autarky made Guangdong's access to the ocean irrelevant.

Deng Xiaoping's open door policy radically changed the economy of the province as it was able to take advantage of its access to the ocean, its closeness to Hong Kong, and historical links to overseas Chinese. In addition, until the 1990s when the Chinese taxation system[?] was reformed, the province benefited from the relatively low rate of taxation placed on it by the central government due to its historical status of being economically backward.

Owing to the closeness of Guangdong to the ocean, it is the ancestral home to large numbers of overseas Chinese. Most of the railroad laborers in the Western United States in the 19th century came from the province. Emmigration in recent years has slowed due to the relatively good economy in the province, and Guangdong is a major destination of the floating population[?] from more northern provinces.

Because of the high population density and the close proximity in which humans and animals live, Guangdong has often been the source of respiratory diseases such as influenza. In late 2002, Guangdong was the initial source of SARS.

During the 1980s, the Guangdong provincial government had a reputation of resisting central government directives, especially those regarding the economy. At the same time, the good economic situation of Guangdong has made it relatively quiet in the area of political and economic activism. Although some in the West assume that Guangdong's economic growth and distinctive language would give rise to separatism, this is not the case, and there has never been any significant support for separatism.

Although both Hong Kong and Macao have historically been part of Guangdong, the basic laws of both special administrative regions (SAR) explicit forbid provinical governments from intervening in political issues. Many issues, such as border policy and water rights, regarding the relationship between Hong Kong and Macao and the rest of China are settled via negotiation between the SAR's and the Guangdong provincial government. Because the SAR's are subdivisions of China, it is impossible for a negotiation to occur between the central government and the SAR government since they are of different statuses with the central government the higher power. However, because Guangdong and the SAR's of equal status with neither having control over the other, negotiation between them is possible and in fact encouraged on issues in which the Central Government has no opinion.